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Men wearing leggings under shorts, a very popular "look" in Tokyo right now.

Well, he's done it again. That bastard Lex Luthor has committed crimes on a mass scale -- and got away scot-free.

I knew that a presidential pardon was on the way. That cover of Lex in his snazzy suit telegraphed that move. And I knew he would do something to go against the Brainiac as well. It's only a matter of time before General Lane falls for that same trick -- if he hasn't already.

"I doubt they've even had time to think." That's classic Luthor, through and through. Twenty steps ahead and more, ready to take everyone out using only the strength of his intellect. I've said it before and I'll say it again: this is why Lex Luthor is the most dangerous man on Earth.

Now, the question becomes... What will Lex due with his new found freedom? Obviously he's going to be back and LexCorp. But will the people of Metropolis (and the world) accept him back into the fold?

I'm guessing that's where Lex is going to betray General Lane. When the War of the Supermen comes to its end there's going to be one winner only: Lex Luthor. And the people of Earth will forgive him his crimes.

God help us all...

I could shoot this same picture all over Sydney.

So, what's the deal with the house couch on the front porch?

The week is nearly over and I'm tired. What can get me through the last day? How about a soothing dose of Thursday Night Thinking?

Ah, Jimmy Olsen. You always know what to say. Er, I mean think.

Allo,

Since it's come to my attention that a few of my regulars have an affection for this show, I thought I'd dust off one of my very first SOHB articles for your education and amusement

(plus, it gets me out of having to write a new article! just like when sitcoms do clip shows!)

Side Note: The new page dubbed My Happy Place is nothing like The Meditation Chamber or The Serenity Parlor. I always go over and read the comments left here when I'm not around--which makes me feel half like an omniscient overseer, and half like a depraved peeper. This time, though, I found a comment directed to me was so wonderful I made it into its own page. Tht way, I can look at it whenever life starts to get me down(I'm also having it carved into my tombstone)

Enjoy the memories,

Rootin' Tootin' Scoot














Much to my surprise I find myself spending a great deal of time on YouTube. Not that I've become an aficionado of farting zoo animals or fat guys rocking out to Romanian boy bands. For me, YouTube has become a digital time capsule chock full of treasured mementos from simpler times. Forgotten music videos, vintage commercials, and old stand-up clips all adorn my Channel (see link at bottom of page). So when I decided to excavate some precious relics from my childhood TV schedule, You Can't Do That On Television was the first treasure unearthed.


Not to alienate anyone, but those of you who did not grow up watching smartass Canadian kids get coated in viscous green glory simply can't understand what this show meant to my generation. It wasn't merely a television program, it was a rallying cry, a flag of anarchic defiance. Finally, if only for a mere 30 minutes a day, we could enjoy a kids show that wasn't trying to:
A. Sell us crappy action figures
B. Teach us how to conjugate verbs, or
C. Explain the difference between "Good Touch" and "Bad Touch"

YCDTOTV was pure, unfiltered, entertainment. No educational content, no hidden morals or messages, no safety tips or sales pitches...no redeeming social, ethical, or didactic value whatsoever. Obviously, we loved it with a passion that could not, barring the onset of puberty, be denied.

Oh, and just in case all that wasn't enough for us to swear our undying devotion--OUR PARENTS DESPISED IT! I mean come on, we had no choice but to adore this show now. Once the parents, teachers, and various other humorless authority figures voiced their displeasure, (with a vehemence that would not be matched until the rise of Beavis And Butt-Head) the deal was sealed. Parents never seem to learn that their hatred may as well be a shining golden stamp saying CERTIFIED 100% AWESOME.


Of course, one might think, "How could adults not revile such a program?" After all, every character on the show over the age of 18 (Christine McGlade notwithstanding) was universally portrayed as inept, inconsiderate, amoral, unprincipled, unjust, callous, cruel, and despicable. But this in itself was nothing new. Children's programming has a long tradition of unpleasantly caricaturing authority figures--it's a staple of cartoons, for example.

Was it the vaunted excessive bathroom humor that caught the ire of the adults, then? Unlikely. Again, it had been done before, perhaps not to the same extent, but YCDTOTV certainly didn't invent fart jokes.

I'd wager that what truly provoked the nation's educators and caregivers is what a show with, as I said, no educational value was actually teaching their children. It taught them something each and every one of them already knew, but none of the shows directed to them had the nerve to say, that is, BEING A KID SUCKS OUT LOUD! 

Most adults have a rather selective memory of their childhoods, and think of them as much more pleasant than they actually were. Even I, who still maintain a vivid memory of an absolutely miserable youth, would go back to being 11 in half a second given the chance. These adults create children's programming based on this rose-tinted memory--shows full of happy, attractive, precocious youngsters who always find a way to overcome any obstacle, who never despair, who inhabit a universe where the sky is always blue, the sun is always shining, and the good guys always win. In other words, a universe which practically no child in the real world can relate to.

In contrast to this picture-perfect vision, the world of YCDTOTV is stressfull, unfair, occasionally bleak, and often cruel. Children here are reminded constantly that they have no rights, no autonomy, no recourse, no independence, and no voice. Adults here make it clear that because they are bigger, stronger, older, "wiser", smarter, and more experienced, they are thus in charge and are free to run things as they see fit.

But the show's not about lamenting the unfairness of an adult-run world, it's about surviving it. It said to us, the viewers: "We know. We understand. It's miserable and unfair and depressing, but you're not alone, if we can make it through this insane world, so can you!" Unfortunately, a certain segment of the adult population would rather force children to conform to their fantasy storybook idea of childhood than see them question authority or face harsh realities, and that, I believe, was the impetus behind the negative campaign against this marvelous show.

I'm going to be straight with all of you: I can't believe the current Azrael series hasn't been canceled yet.

It's not that Azrael is a bad book. Really, I have no idea if that's the case. It's just that books about lesser characters -- or unknown characters -- don't tend to last very long. Take the Red Circle launch, for instance. I can vouch for the fact that The Shield and The Web were both very good books. But where are those guys now?

Of course, this is coming from a guy who headlined his own series for one hundred issues. But those were different times. In this day and age a book has to have some serious star power (in either the writer, artist, or character department) to guarantee its long life.

Still, I'm hoping my poor, doomed successor has some success before the twisted shade of St. Dumas (his name be praised!) sends the new Azrael spinning into madness. Maybe a new writer will help!

UPDATE: Of the 100 comments so far, for this image, only two mentioned what I thought was most important element - the strong eyebrows of the girl on the right.

That is a real stylistic choice, as much as choosing a great pair of shoes or a bag.

So what about a strong brow? Can it be a trend or is it totally dependent on the person?

On the way back from Tokyo, I made a quick stop over in Sydney. I still have more shots from Japan, but I wanted to get these Sydney shots up right away.

It has been over four years since I first begged the comics world to stop spelling Judd Winick's name wrong. It doesn't seem to have helped.

Just today over at CBR they have once again spelled Judd Winick's name "Winnick." It is well known among those who know well my idiosyncrasies that this drives me up the wall for no good reason.

Now, I expect this from ill-informed message board commenters. They are the most likely to spell his name wrong, after all. But I do not expect a site like Comic Book Resources -- which regularly has cause to actually interview Mr. Winick -- to make such mistakes.

This is my last warning, people. Get it right. There is only one "N" in Winick. Just the one. There has only ever been one.

The story of the Kryptonian Nightwing and Flamebird seems to be almost over. It's been an interesting experiment, putting a couple of untested characters in the lead of what should be the premiere superhero comics. It's hard to say whether or not it worked; it's easy to say that it was never intended to be permanent.

The question then becomes: what happens to the two of them? I imagine they'll survive their scuffle with "Rao" and go on to play a part in War of the Supermen. Whether they make it out of that alive is hard to say. Chris is going to have to face his birth father at some point. That's a given. The confrontation has been brewing for a while and it's bound to be messy.

Thara is going to have to deal with Alura, too. After all, Supergirl's mother blames Thara for her Zor-El's murder. So that won't go well either. Still, both of these encounters will almost certainly happen.

But after War of the Supermen? It's hard to say where things will end up. It's distinctly possible that Kandor stays in the bottle. It's distinctly possible that it has to stay in the bottle for whatever reason. Really, I think when this is all over most things are going back to the status quo: Zod and his goons go back to the Phantom Zone, Alura and everyone else (save Supergirl) get stuck in the bottle, and Nightwing and Flamebird become the heroes of Kandor.

Still, I'd like to be wrong. I'd love for their to be a real shake up in the way things play out. But how often does something so radical -- not to mention permanent -- actually happen in comics?

Strap yourselves in, 'cause the "adult content" warning is about to become apro-fucking -pos.


Lookit this shit: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/whose-responsible-this

Sure, I'm a newb (and I just died inside a little from using that fucking word), but I am in awe at the amount of time, effort, and energy that has been put into proving my beloved WHOSE RESPONSIBLE THIS? is not a "proper" meme. What the FUCK?!? Can't something just be funny for fuck's sake. So this phrase was somewhat self-consciously injected into the lexicon--nobody was forced, coerced, or intimidated into using or promoting the phrase. People used it BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY! Isn't that enough? But because some dipshit website, in its infinite wisdom, declared that since the phrase didn't arise "organically", whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean, suddenly its not a meme. As if the judgement of these subnormals will somehow magically make people stop using it. I only recently started reading http://www.toplessrobot.com/, where I encountered the phrase and read the horrendous fanfic which inspired it. The story is already several months old, as is the whiny little bitchfest on Know Your Meme, and yet hardly a post goes by that a TR fan doesn't reference the purpotedly "improper" or "nonexistent" meme. Way to police the Internet Vocabulary, fucktards!


Why am I so worked up about this admittedly rather petty issue? Because shit like this is the reason people hate Geeks. We even turn our obnoxious obsessiveness on ourselves (alliteration's a bitch). It's socially stigmatizing enough to even know what WHOSE RESPONSIBLE THIS? is/means, but these assholes just had to kick it up a notch.



Ok, the bile is out of my system. I hope whoever it is I called "subnormals" or "fucktards" can take it with a grain of salt. I doubt it, but I can hope. Really all I'm trying to do is show my love and support for TR, who I think got the shit end of the stick when they were accused of "engineering" this meme--nobody blamed Brickhousebunny21, the literary sociopath who is truly "responsible this".  Anyhoo, goodnight folks, keep the faith, TR--AND TO EVERYONE, LIKE WHAT YOU WANT TO LIKE, DON'T LET THE UBERNERD GESTAPO DICTATE YOUR TASTES!